Slowing material flows involves product life cycle extension. In other words,
designers should design products that are durable and last longer and allow for the
possibility of servicing, repair, and remanufacture. Longer-lasting products implies
that the need for replacing products is reduced. From a logistics perspective, on the
one hand, this means less deliveries and less transport of new products. On the other
hand, the need to transport new products would be replaced by the reverse flows of
products requiring maintenance, repair, and remanufacturing. Waste collecting and
processing will also be reduced by extending the life of products (including packaging). In many cases, product ownership will also change; it will be retained by
product manufacturers who simply lease their products to their customers. In other
words, 'product-as-a-service' will replace customer product ownership. This development is called servitization and incentivizes longer-lasting products and the
efficient maintenance of products on the side of the product owner (the
manufacturer).
Narrowing material flows also starts with the product designer, designing products in such a way as to minimize material inputs. This could include fewer materials
used in the manufacturing of the product and less energy required in the operation of
the product after manufacture. In other words, the products are environmentally less
damaging or “lighter.” Part of this discussion is the possible minimization of
transport distances of the resources chosen by the product designer. CE principles
generally also advocate reducing dependencies on imports (Geissdoerfer et al. 2018),
since such dependencies present resource security risks. Stahel (2013) also argues
that the repair, remanufacture, and recycling flows should be kept small and local in
order to avoid products being transported back and forth over long distances.
Closing material flows begins with a switch from landfilling and incinerating
products and residual waste to the separation of waste streams and recycling.
Ultimately, recycling should be replaced by reverse logistics, and every product
manufacturer will therefore have to have a closed-loop product system. From a
supply chain perspective, reverse logistics has already been studied for many years
(e.g., Govindan et al. 2015; Govindan and Soleimani 2017), and many opportunities
to apply and extend this knowledge base exist. Closing loops can also be extended
across different supply chains, where products or waste streams are not necessarily
re-used in their own supply chain, but by another stakeholder that can make use of
the material. An example of such re-use is industrial symbiosis, which is the use of
another company’s waste flows as a feedstock (see also Herczeg et al. 2018).
In the current transition towards the CE, many circular business models are being
initiated by start-ups and by existing businesses that traditionally provided waste
management services. Initiatives range from growing mushrooms on collected used
coffee grounds to the production of biogas from collected municipal organic waste.
Circular companies that are able to valorize waste or side streams need to be able to
compete in the market with producers that use conventional feedstock and fossil
fuels. Whether or not these circular businesses can compete in terms of price per unit
is to a large extent dependent on whether logistics and production costs can be kept
low enough to achieve a competitive market price for the product being made. Three
1 Logistics in the Circular Economy: Challenges and Opportunities
7
designers should design products that are durable and last longer and allow for the
possibility of servicing, repair, and remanufacture. Longer-lasting products implies
that the need for replacing products is reduced. From a logistics perspective, on the
one hand, this means less deliveries and less transport of new products. On the other
hand, the need to transport new products would be replaced by the reverse flows of
products requiring maintenance, repair, and remanufacturing. Waste collecting and
processing will also be reduced by extending the life of products (including packaging). In many cases, product ownership will also change; it will be retained by
product manufacturers who simply lease their products to their customers. In other
words, 'product-as-a-service' will replace customer product ownership. This development is called servitization and incentivizes longer-lasting products and the
efficient maintenance of products on the side of the product owner (the
manufacturer).
Narrowing material flows also starts with the product designer, designing products in such a way as to minimize material inputs. This could include fewer materials
used in the manufacturing of the product and less energy required in the operation of
the product after manufacture. In other words, the products are environmentally less
damaging or “lighter.” Part of this discussion is the possible minimization of
transport distances of the resources chosen by the product designer. CE principles
generally also advocate reducing dependencies on imports (Geissdoerfer et al. 2018),
since such dependencies present resource security risks. Stahel (2013) also argues
that the repair, remanufacture, and recycling flows should be kept small and local in
order to avoid products being transported back and forth over long distances.
Closing material flows begins with a switch from landfilling and incinerating
products and residual waste to the separation of waste streams and recycling.
Ultimately, recycling should be replaced by reverse logistics, and every product
manufacturer will therefore have to have a closed-loop product system. From a
supply chain perspective, reverse logistics has already been studied for many years
(e.g., Govindan et al. 2015; Govindan and Soleimani 2017), and many opportunities
to apply and extend this knowledge base exist. Closing loops can also be extended
across different supply chains, where products or waste streams are not necessarily
re-used in their own supply chain, but by another stakeholder that can make use of
the material. An example of such re-use is industrial symbiosis, which is the use of
another company’s waste flows as a feedstock (see also Herczeg et al. 2018).
In the current transition towards the CE, many circular business models are being
initiated by start-ups and by existing businesses that traditionally provided waste
management services. Initiatives range from growing mushrooms on collected used
coffee grounds to the production of biogas from collected municipal organic waste.
Circular companies that are able to valorize waste or side streams need to be able to
compete in the market with producers that use conventional feedstock and fossil
fuels. Whether or not these circular businesses can compete in terms of price per unit
is to a large extent dependent on whether logistics and production costs can be kept
low enough to achieve a competitive market price for the product being made. Three
1 Logistics in the Circular Economy: Challenges and Opportunities
7